Tours are 11:30 AM and 3:00 PM Tuesdays to Saturdays. Tours are $5 per person (children and students free) which includes a guidebook of either the Gardens or the Monastery. Please note that there are no tours on Sundays and Mondays.

The Gift Shop and Visitor’s Center is closed on New Years Day. Also there will be no tours.

Once a month, on a Friday, the monks have a day of total silence and solitude. They call these the “Desert Days” and no tours of the monastery are given on these days. However, the Visitors’ Center/Gift Shop and the gardens are open.
The Desert Days for 2017 are:
January – 6
February – 3
March – 17
April – 7
May – 5
June – 2
July – 7
August – 4
September – 1
October – 6
November – 10
Mepkin Abbey Store
1098 Mepkin Abbey Rd.
Moncks Corner, SC 29461
843 761-8509 (ask for store)Mepkinstore@gmail.com

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“Finding Bethlehem”

Combing the historical significance of the Christmas Nativity with the diversity of cultures and artists that have interpreted it through the ages, "Finding Bethlehem" guides you thoughtful commentaries of theologians and collectors alike, to artist statements and the voices of "behind-thes-scenes" participants in the Festival, the book explores the spiritual and artistic meaning of the Nativity.Available at the Abbey Store

David Kearney, John Fahrner, Father Jim Caffrey and Jose’ Vacas are each with us for an extended visit serving an ‘observership’ while they continue to discern if God is calling them to enter Mepkin Abbey.

At Vespers on December 3rd, our brother, Father Gerard Jonas Palmares professed his vows of stability, obedience and conversatio morum before Abbot Stan in the presence of the community, his parents and a number of guests. Advent is about preparing ourselves to live for the encounter with God who comes to be with us. In his three years of prayer and study, Father Gerard Jonas has given himself more and more to the monastic way and with the affirmation of the community to advance, he has spoken his vows, received his black scapular and leather belt and taken his place among the professed monks of Our Lady of Mepkin Abbey. In his exhortation, Abbot Stan spoke very specifically to Father Gerard Jonas of his journey to this moment.

On the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception at Vespers in our monastic church, Brother Anthony Maria Odom gave himself more fully to God by his profession of first vows according to the Cistercian tradition. With the monastic community, retreatants, guests and friends praying with and for him, Rodney Odom, now Brother Anthony Maria, spoke the words of the three vows: stability, obedience and conversatio morum that express his commitment to live as did Mary – open to receive God’s Word and lovingly doing God’s will.

Study Days With the Novices of Belmont Abbey

Mepkin’s two novices and one postulant journeyed with our novice director to Belmont, North Carolina to participate in a program of study coordinated by Sr. Jeanne Margaret McNally, RSM, PhD, JCL. Hosted at the motherhouse of the Sisters of Mercy of the Americas South Central Province in Belmont, Father Jonas, Brother Anthony Maria and Brother Ken joined with the four Benedictine novices and one observer from Belmont Abbey for a program designed under the umbrella of an appreciation for the encyclical ‘Lumen Fidei’ of Pope Francis. The presentations were: Living the Law, offered by Rev. Philip Scarcella, Ph.D, JCD; Faith and the New Encyclical, offered by Dr. Ronald Thomas, Jr. of the Theology Department of Belmont Abbey College; The Monastic Tradition and Social Justice, offered by Sister Rose Marie Tresp, RSM; and The Contemplative Life, offered by Father Kevin, M.Div of Mepkin. There was an informal gathering with Sister Jane Hotstream, RSM, President of the South Central Province of the Sisters of Mercy of the Americas, allowing for some conversation around recent developments in the dialogue between LCWR and the Vatican body asked to clarify some positions or holdings of the women religious who belong to the LCWR. A final session entitled Challenges and Encouragement in Religious Life was offered to those in formation from Mepkin Abbey by Bishop William Curlin, Bishop Emeritus of Charlotte. Mepkin and Belmont Abbey, through the efforts of Sister Jeanne Margaret, have a history of these study days. It has proven especially helpful to our men in formation to help them understand the active apostolates of religious in the world around us. And our visit to a Benedictine monastic community who live in the midst of their college campus providing higher education is both enlightening and a cause to more deeply appreciate our way of separation and hiddenness. These days afford the opportunity to pray with and observe Benedictine monks who are in service to the church as educators while engaging us in reflecting on the disciplines and values which are essential to the Cistercian tradition.

David Kearney who is discerning a call to enter Mepkin has been staying with us for three months as an observer. From Ohio, Dave had come on retreat to Mepkin in the past and initiated a conversation to explore the possibility that God might be inviting him to become a Trappist.

Mepkin Abbey dedicated the St. Francis Retreat Center and Fr. Francis Kline Memorial Chapel on Sunday, August 25, 2013 with a Concert in the Abbey Church, and a Dedication Liturgy on the grounds by the Retreat Center and Chapel. About 350 people attended the event, including Fr. Francis’s family.

After having made several brief visits to allow himself to better know our life, Chris Davies resided with us for the month of August as an observer. Chris is a native of South Carolina and lives in Mount Pleasant. He works in the computer programming field and has been more and more drawn to the contemplative way. Transitioning for this time at Mepkin was a real shift in gears for Chris as only days before he began his month of observership he had just returned from World Youth Day in Rio de Janeiro. The abbot, Father Stan, asked Chris to speak with the monastic community in chapter sharing some of the experience of being with Pope Francis and the many who had journeyed to Brazil for this event. For Chris, his involvement with the Young Adult Ministry of the Diocese of Charleston has proved enriching to the development of his spirituality and helped to deepen the yearning for a fuller relationship with Christ. During his time in discernment at the Drexel House under the auspices of the Vocation Office of the Diocese of Charleston, Chris’ appreciation grew for the liturgy of the hours and praying in community. Kindly remember Chris in your prayers as he continues to discern. And please pray for the other thirteen men who are in contact with us to explore a possible vocation to the contemplative monastic life.

Abbot Stan and the Brothers today sent a letter to elected officials pleading with them not to utilize military strikes in Syria. Below is a copy of that letter. In addition, to be in solidarity with Pope Francis’ call for a prayer vigil, on Saturday, Sept. 7, the Mepkin community will offer special prayers, including community prayer in the Blessed Sacrament Chapel, for a peaceful resolution to the conflicts in Syria and the Middle East.

Please, Please, Please, no military strikes in Syria. Let us use our leadership responsibilities in the world to act in solidarity with the international community to bring about dialogue and human negotiations to resolve this conflict. In the words of Pope Francis of Rome: “I repeat forcefully: it is neither a culture of confrontation nor a culture of conflict which builds harmony within and between peoples, but rather a culture of encounter and a culture of dialogue; this is the only way to peace.”

We, the Trappist monks of Mepkin Abbey, are praying and fasting in solidarity with Pope Francis of Rome, with Ahmad Badreddin Hassou, the Great Mufti of Syria, other Muslim groups, tribal communities, the Druzes, the Ismaelites, other components of Syrian society and with all religious leaders of good will in our world. We do this with the intention to avoid further bloodshed and sorrow to the people of Syria: Muslim, Christian, and other faiths.

The international community CAN bring about dialogue and negotiation to resolve this conflict. We MUST do this in the name of all the Syrian people and indeed in the name of humanity itself.

Mepkin Abbey welcomed Ken Grooms for a three month observership in May. Ken is actually returning to South Carolina. He was born in Charleston and raised in Goose Creek. After completing a degree in philosophy at the College of Charleston (with a minor in music, playing trumpet for the Charleston Symphony), Ken did graduate studies in philosophy at the University of South Carolina. His desire to pursue further studies took him to Fordham University in New York City where he began to do volunteer work with the Missionaries of Charity in the Bronx. His work with Mother Teresa’s sisters became full time when they asked him to run their men’s shelter in the Bronx. And he was also working one day a week at their shelter for HIV patients in Manhattan. While giving himself in service in these efforts Ken was befriended by other volunteers which led him to Long Island where he was employed as a cook for the retired priests of the Diocese of Rockville Centre at their residence for senior priests. The desire for contemplative life was growing all through these years. And having visited Mepkin along his journey, he made contact to explore whether God might be calling him to our life. Ken has initiated the process of application and hopes to enter Mepkin in the near future.